a day ago
Native trees to bring back green cover on 50 hectares of forest
The Forest Department will plant a total of 30,000 saplings of native trees in forest patches of Madukkarai forest range where invasive plant species were removed before the onset of the southwest monsoon.
The afforestation efforts are taken up in the sandwich forest area that lies between railway lines 'A' and 'B' between Ettimadai and Walayar stations, falling under Solakkarai reserve forest of Madukkarai range.
Forest Range Officer R. Arun Kumar said invasive plants, mainly Lantana camara, were removed from 50 hectares between 'A' and 'B' lines. The total forest area between the two railway lines is about 300 hectares.
He said that the alien species were removed using the funds allocated by the Forest Department for the removal of the invasive species.
The afforestation drive is being conducted under the Restoration of Degraded Forests Landscape Project with financial assistance from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
He said that saplings of native tree species that are commonly seen in the region will be planted on 50 hectares. Saplings for the greening drive were raised in a nursery of the forest range.
